This invention relates to a cutter for slitting the covering on an electric cable exposing the conducting wires preparatory to connecting the wires to terminals.
Electrically conducting wires are normally covered with an insulating cover, and a number of the individual covered wires, usually with some spacing material, are formed into a cable and covered with an outer covering. Such cables are formed in very long strands which are rolled on reels for shipments. A particular use of the cable may use only a short portion of the cable on a reel, providing a cable having two ends covered and insulated to the end cut. For many electric connections with a terminal, the conducting wires must be bared. This involves slitting the outer covering, and then slitting the covering on the individual wires. The outer covering is tough and sturdy and difficult to slit, while the wire coverings are easier to cut. Electricians may have to "peel" the ends of a cable many times in a day, and a pocket knife, commonly used, is tedious and not entirely satisfactory. This is particularly true with a protruding end of the cable which has been threaded through a junction or terminal box. The protruding cable covering is usually slit to the box wall so as to free the wires inside the box. The cable covering requires a long slit to seal it for exposing relatively long lengths of wire. The wire covering is peeled only enough to make a connection.
Several prior art devices are known for use in slitting cables. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,739,972 discloses a device having a curved channel of generally semicylindrical cross section wherein a fixedly mounted knife blade protrudes into the channel at the curved portion thereof. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,104, the cable is moved through a tool having a cylindrical body against two cutting edges of unequal length. U.S. Pat. No. 1,165,176 describes a wire stripping tool having a blade which is adjustable for different size wires and which acts as a roller rotatable in a fixed position. Other cable stripping tools are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,691,822, 2,819,520 and 1,885,944.